Veterinary Medical and Surgical Group

We were referred to VSMG by our vet when my 12 ½ yr old yellow lab Sophie’s blood test results were showing elevated liver values back in December. She was lethargy and not finishing her food and it’s just not her. She is the one that’s always eager to eat and we knew something was seriously wrong with her. VSMG had liver ultrasound and liver biopsy done for her and thank god they ruled out cancer. Dr Unis and her assistant Jill were amazing and special thanks to them for taking such great care of Sophie. She is immediately under the care of Dr Stanley and I truly believe that Dr Stanley saved my baby’s life. Dr Stanley is incredible and so knowledgable and patient with all of our questions. The communication with him has been amazing and I have never met a doctor like him before. He would answer our emails on his day off and he even came in today (on his day off and Super Bowl Sunday) to call me about Sophie blood test results. Sophie is showing great improvement on all levels (after just one month). Sophie is very lucky to have Dr. Stanley to care for her and special thanks to Dr. Stanley from the bottom of my heart.

Total class act! I was trying to save my dear little kitty that I adopted from my mom, and the Vet was very helpful to help me understand it was time to let her go. I told him that his job must suck, when he has to be the one to tell an owner it time to say your goodbyes.
It was a sad night but I am thankful for the staff.

My French bulldog had gotten into the medicine cabinet, was acting very odd and I was extremely worried. I was recommended to VMSG for advice and Claudia walked me through the whole process asking me all the right questions, and stayed on the phone with me. It was ultimately my decision to bring him in or not, however she was so kind, so sweet and definitely had the best customer service! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your help.

My dog has been a regular of the VMSG for about 6 months now. The doctors, assistants and staff are like family to me. My dog has needed a series of surgeries to improve her quality of life. Dr. Unis, Jill, Daniel, Bradley and the entire staff have been so incredibly supportive and have made this at times difficult situation easier to manage. They love my dog and she is in love with them. She runs into their arms and showers them with kisses and affection. These professionals have heart and are in touch and sympathetic to the families like mine who come to them in need of help. The process can be rough, but their genuine concern, patience and support have meant the world to me and they have been available ²⁴⁄₇ to answer my sometimes frantic calls and have patiently answered every single one of my questions with endless knowledge, heart felt compassion, and a much welcome sense of humor. My dog is so lucky to have had a second chance at a comfortable and fulfilled life due to their efforts and never ending desire to provide her with the best medical care and never ending respect and love. Dogs have this sense of who they love and trust and I see and feel my dog’s love for everyone there when she barrels through the door, greets everyone she knows and drops to the ground for belly rubs. I cannot say enough to express my gratitude and appreciation for everyone there. Jill, thank you for your friendship and care. You have brought me so much comfort and stability. Thank you for taking such good care of our girl! Daniel and Bradley, thank you for watching over our sweet girl in surgery and recovery. Dr. Unis, thank you for all of the time you have spent collaborating with me, answering my questions, researching other cases out there, and for your cutting edge medical knowledge and surgical work. You are so incredibly talented and we are so grateful to you! Thank you to the entire office staff for your smiles and support! I highly recommend the VMSG! What an incredible place with incredible people, who love what they do in a beautiful facility!

I don’t give five stars lately, but this Center went above and beyond. Thank you! They even wrote a card, and had the employees sign it, with very kind words. Even thinking about this leaves me emotional. I’m forever thankful to the kind people working at this location.

I want to recognize and thank the staff at VMSG for helping me through the hardest night of my life, when I had to have my little 17 year old poodle mix put to sleep. I was trying my best to let her pass away at home, but it was not meant to be. She became very ill on a Sunday night and I knew the time had come. It was a miracle I found VMSG online, they were close by and the staff was oh so kind! They used the two step procedure which gave me some time to spend some valuable moments with my little one in a pain free state… and then very quietly she was gone. They let me hold her the entire time for which I am so grateful. I cannot thank them enough for their caring, their reasonable costs, and the sensitivity they exhibited. I highly recommend this practice.

I took our dog in today to have her put down after her 14.5 healthy years on the planet. The staff was kind, sympathetic and professional. The vet was amazing and the procedure was flawless. They gave her medicine to have her fall asleep in less than 10 seconds and another injection to help her pass. She looked so restful during the process and I am very grateful to a wonderful staff and facility. Very professional and humane. Thank you VSMG.

We had taken our pets to a number of Veterinary clinics in OC over the last 15 years, where our pets have received varying degrees of quality care from bad to decent. VMSG has outperformed all the other Veterinarians. Our cat Minka received the highest quality care from Dr. Marcos Junis. He performeded 2 intricate life saving surgeries on Minka. Her recovery was fast and complete. Assisted by his able staff, Gill, Bradley and all the others we appreciate their courtesy and loving care.

What a great hospital. The staff and doctors are all kind and compassionate. If you read the review by Susan please take it with a grain of salt! I witnessed her tirade, some of it directed at me because I suggested we (she) might show some compassion for the dog who was the emergency, and his distraught owner. She screamed and cursed at every person who crossed her path. My opinion was they should have called the police and I was considering it when she came at me using profanity I’ve never heard. I don’t know exactly what her dog was there for because the hospital respects patient privacy, but I heard that it was a routine procedure, not a life or death emergency. My kitten had been there since 9:00 for a surgery. I was in the same position she was. But I saw how hard they were working, as did other pet owners who were in the waiting room. The staff kept apologizing to us for the wait. There were tears shed by a few people for the firefighter and his sick dog. We all wanted them to take care of the dog and his owner. Waiting a little longer with patience and prayers is a small gesture in the big scheme of things. At least she got to go home WITH her dog. I wonder how she would have felt if it were her dog in emergency and she had to listen to someone screaming, cursing, and ranting at everyone in sight. She clearly was off her meds that day!

Thank you to team at VMSG for taking such good care of us and our puppy Preston Scott. We love Jill, Dr. Unis, Bradley, Ryan, Alicia, Alyssa and the entire front desk staff! Jill has become like a guardian to our family!!! And The entire team has gone up and above to provide excellent and quality care. They are an exceptional team and go up and above to love and service their clients– both our pets and their parents.

My husband and I just moved to California when our dog got sick. It is so scary to be in an unfamiliar area and have no idea who to trust. Our dog is part of our family. We were lucky enough to be referred to VMSG for her after care. Dr. Claude Lessard meet with us and was so understanding and so knowledgeable that she put our minds at ease. The staff is so amazing with the animals as well as the owners! This is by far the best animal hospital we have ever been too!

Dr. Briggs is by far the best veterinary specialist I have been to and sadly I have seen several. She is intelligent, thoughtful and caring. The first time I saw her she diagnosed Gideon within five minutes. Why is this badass, because I had spent $ 5,000 trying to get this diagnosis from a lesser vet for months. She is amazing and well worth the money. Yes, specialty veterinarian care is expensive, but she is worth every penny.

We recently had an an emergency where our dog, Bud, ate some of my Gramdma’s medication, worst nightmare!!! VMSG was a God sent! The entire staff was beyond amazing, I was hysterical of course, thy calmed and reassured me. They were fast, thorough, and not too pricey saying every test he had done. Oh and it was the middle of the night, so they’re the greatest:)

We brought our cat here late Saturday night with a UTI. We are elated with the the service, staff and outstanding care we received all at a very reasonable cost. Compared to Animal Urgent Care in Mission Viejo which we went to a few years ago. They were a total rip off in cost and level of care. They prey on animal lovers who will do anything to save their pet.
It’s relieving to know that we have a great 24hour emergency care facility close by. Thank you !

i wrote this on Monday 5÷11÷15 but for some reason it didn’t post. I had to put my 5 month kitten down today named lola. She is the only thing I have to come home to and is literally my baby. I could never even think about having to say goodbye to this little precious miracle. Without the help of one person in particular. Ryan. She calmed me down and treated my baby like it was hers. One thing I was not going to let go was I had to hold Lola while she was being put to sleep for my comfort and for hers. Without a question they said yes and Lola loved to be swaddled like a baby and upon my wishes they are letting her be cremated like that. THANK YOU EVERYONE AT VMSG!!! Ryan, you have truly changed my mind about pet healthcare, after I thought there was no hope.

Our personal Vet recommended VSMG for our 8 year old choc Lab due to a torn ACL. We made an appointment and got in very quick and had a consultation with Doctor Unis. He was very professional and knowledgeable regarding our Labs issue. Within a few days at our request we scheduled surgery. After surgery the Doctor and staff meticulously went through recovery process (approx 8 weeks). We brought our little girl home and she is doing fine thus far. Between staff and Doctor this was a great recommendation. Thank you VSMG and 17 St Animal Hospital (Dr Webber)

We had to say goodbye to our best buddy recently and it was a very painful decision and process to go through. I want to praise Dr. Mineo and her staff for being so compassionate, caring and honest with us. Thank you for taking such good care of our big guy and of us, too.

Unbelievably rude Dr. Went on a Sunday evening and was quoted $ 5000 for a procedure done the next days for $ 1100. Do your self a favor and look around there are still vets out there not in it for the money. These people prey on your emotions. Terrible.

We brought our German shorthaired pointer here at about 8pm with a very high fever of unknown origin. He was very lethargic, could barely stand, and hadn’t been eating or drinking for almost 24 hours. The staff at VMSG were great when we called, and got us in to see Dr. French very quickly. Our little buddy was admitted for fluids and IV antibiotics. Dr. Najman and Dr. French were fantastic. He gradually improved and we were able to take him home to recover completely.
While this was an expensive trip, their prices are competitive with other vets in the area. Unfortunately, when your pet has a medical emergency, costs can add up quickly regardless of where you take them. The docs at VMSG were very mindful of this in our situation and worked with us to provide the most logical care for our dog’s illness; they did not recommend we do anything he didn’t need. They also contacted our regular vet to fill them in on the situation.
The facility was very clean and smelled great. They even keep the coffee going late at night.
Overall, we are so grateful we had them available to us when we had a doggy medical emergency. We will absolutely use them again if we need to do so (hopefully not, but dogs certainly get into stuff and you never know!).

In the words of my fiancé, let’s start off with they saved our dog’s life. We have a very sweet, small, soft, chihuahua mix. He is 16lbs and 9.5 years old and has epilepsy. His seizures were managed with medication for a long time, but unfortunately they stopped working about a month ago. At about 1am on Tuesday morning we woke up and he was unconscious with a super high fever. We ran to VMSG and were there in under 10 minutes, he was being treated within 30 seconds of our arrival. They cooled him off and stabilized him with anti-​convulsants. Then the doc came out and gave us our treatment options. Money wasn’t a factor in our decisions at this point, his quality of life was primary. We opted not to have a medically induced coma and just the medication treatments.
Even with all those medications, he still woke up with seizures. We called and called all day and each time a doctor would talk to us and give us a thorough update. When went to see him in the afternoon around 4pm, we knew it was time.
The techs let us visit with him in the back before we made our final decision and then gently wrapped him up and brought him to a private room. They told us to take our time and that they would have someone waiting right outside the door when we were ready. Before she left, the tech explained a few quick things, had us sign an authorization for euthanasia, and select our urn. We didn’t opt for a paw impression and we kinda wish we had. We went and got them 15 min later and the doc came in. She was very kind to us and explained how both shots worked. She let us hold him. The second shot unfortunately broke and sprayed liquid everywhere including my glasses (note to self: don’t lick unknown substances off your glasses to clean them, tastes bad, felt weird). She ran to get a new one and everything else went smooth from there on. He quietly went to sleep in his favorite person’s hands.
We stayed with him for a bit longer then grabbed a tech to stay with him when we left, which she was more than happy to do.
All in all, the treatments cost about $ 1000 with the euthanasia. A separate company does the cremation and urn, for his size it was $ 175.
The best things were that they listened to us, honored our wishes, let us badger them and worry all day, and a beautiful card they sent after. They made a very hard day a little easier.